04.02.2017.
Preparations of the military skiers for the Winter Military Olympics
The preparations of the national military ski team of the Republic of Serbia are being held in the CISM winter training camp “Kopaonik 2017” from 29th January to 11th February. Our best Alpine and Nordic skiers, supervised by Military Academy instructors and experts out of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of Serbia, will prepare for their appearance at the forthcoming “3rd Winter Military World Games”, the unofficial winter military Olympics, which is going to take place from 22nd to 28th February 2017 in Sochi, Russian Federation.
The organisers of the preparations and training camp are the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces, while the technical organisation is provided by the Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to CISM. The local municipality of Raška, Public Company "Skijališta Srbije“, National park “Kopaonik“ and "MK Mountain Resort” are all included in co-organisation of the activities. Our ski team is also supported by the Olympic Committee of Serbia, Ski Association of Serbia, CISM General Secretariat, Jugobanka-Jugobanka a.d. Kosovska Mitrovica and INTERLAB Eksim Company.
During the course of the preparations for their appearance in Russia, the most successful military skiers were visited by the Head of Serbian Delegation to the International Military Sports Council (CISM) Brigadier General Siniša Radović. At the 51st ski training area “Kopaonik” the General took the opportunity to also greet the representatives of institutions, organisations and companies that supported the realisation of CISM winter training camp “Kopaonik 2017” and who are rendering support to the national military ski team.
General Radović praised the work done so far by the members of the national team and thanked the representatives of the institutions, organisations and companies underlying how invaluable their assistance was.
– Every sport, and consequently military sport, deserves attention and support. The Ministry of Defence pays great attention to the promotion of top-level sport among its members, and the cooperation with institutions, organisation and companies out of our system largely contributes to that. We believe that our athletes will proudly wear the colours of our country and our Armed Forces at the forthcoming Winter Military World Games, and that we will all together share the joy and pride in their participation in this competition, and we also hope for the results – said General Radović.
Captain Daniel Pešić, the captain of the ski team views that year after year the quality of preparations for competitions is raised to a higher level.
- Although our country has been the member of CISM from 2003, we, the skiers have been actively involved in competitions since 2010, when the first Winter Military Olympics was held in Italy, where we won bronze team medal in slalom. Since then, we have had the preparations here on the Kopaonik mountain both for the male and female ski team which, since 2010, has kept its “frame”, but, this year, we have managed to rejuvenate the team. Having in mind that at all competition we challenge professional skiers who compete at the World Cup, we are aware of the fact that in the individual ranking we can hardly measure up to Olympic and world champions. However, our expectations are directed to the competition of teams – says Captain Pešić.
The optimism of the captain of the ski team is shared by MS Ivana Petrović (civilian employee), a member of the “Nordic ski” team.
– Although Nordic skiing is not a widely spread sport with us, in a way, we are the promoters of this discipline, and we can also be proud of the successes achieved by some of the members of our military team. Until now Anja Ilić, Dejan Krsmanović and Milan Gluhović have achieved notable results. We expect that their results in Sochi will also be at a high level – says Ivana Petrović and adds that the atmosphere in the team is exceptional and that competitors, who have shared several years of joint preparations and competitions, have formed true friendship.
In the final phase of direct preparations for the participation in the “3rd Winter Military World Games”, the members of national military ski team of the Republic of Serbia, supported by the Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to CISM and the Delegation of the Republic of Slovenia to CISM, will have training in the “CISM training camp” in Pokljuka, Republic of Slovenia, from 12th to 19th February 2017.
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